Saturday, December 10, 2005

I have been reprimanded for not updating this blog enough. So for all of you who have taken the time to track me down in person and strongly recommend that I update, this one’s for you.

If you are so inclined, you can find this home on 3700 North in Provo right before the light on University Avenue. This specific home was one of my first conscious recognitions of mid century style. Well, I wasn’t as impressed by it as I was confused by it. This house has a doorknob that is in the center of the front door.

For years while driving past the house I would note this design anomaly and imagine the kind of family that used a center doorknob. Were the rest of their lives as unconventional? What kind of secret did they harbor behind that odd front door? Was this handle the answer to the bitter right-handers vs. left-handers argument? No matter the imaginations, this home is a typical ranch in High Mid Century style. The differing façade steps with the large windows. In the rear of the house is a vaulted portion with clerestory windows and garden access. What’s unusual about the house is the neighborhood. All but one of the houses surrounding it were built twenty to thirty years after it. During the lifetime of the house University Avenue became a main highway with actual traffic lights past 2230 N. Once located on a quiet street, the house now sits opposite of one of the major outlets for the north Provo hills. Across the street are office buildings and strip malls.

Like many mid century homes, its location has shifted drastically in the past fifty years. It’s only a matter of time before its owners sell the valuable land for development. So, the next time you’re on your way to University Mall, or driving to Timpview High for a game, try to find this little house and its amazing center doorknob.